Friday, December 27, 2013

The fourth giveaway is here. One lucky person among the readers of Sultana's Legacy, the second in my Moorish Spain series set within Granada's Alhambra must be able to answer the following 3 questions to be considered in a drawing to win one $25 Amazon gift card - the gift card can be used for anything you may purchase from Amazon. This giveaway is open internationally. Here are the rules:

First person to provide the correct answers to all 3 questions in a comment on this blog post OR my Facebook page wins.

Leave your email address in the comments section to be considered in the drawing.

This contest doesn't require you to follow The Brooklyn Scribbler blog or Like my Facebook page (although I'd love it if you did!), but you must have read the book.

Now, questions from Sultana's Legacy.

In Sultana's Legacy (2011), the heroine Fatima faces off against a powerful enemy and loses almost everyone she holds dear, as she tries to protect and preserve her family.

1. As the novel opens, what is the name of Fatima's sister who lives at Malaka with her?

2. How does Fatima's father meet his end?

3. Fatima has her favorites among her son Ismail's children in Gharnatah - what are the names of those favored grandchildren?

A. Leila and Yusuf
B. Muhammad and Asiya
C. Samir and Jamilah

Thank you for playing and good luck! Next and final chance to win a gift card will be on Friday, Jan. 3 , for readers of Sultana: Two Sisters. Happy New Year!

Friday, December 20, 2013

Time for the third giveaway, especially for readers of Sultana, the first in my Moorish Spain series set within Granada's Alhambra. As with the previous contests for On Falcon's Wings and The Burning Candle, I'm offering a $25 Amazon gift card by email to one reader who can correctly answer 3 random questions about the novel - the gift card can be used for anything you may purchase from Amazon. This giveaway is open internationally.
Here are the rules:

First person to provide the correct answers to all 3 questions in a comment on this blog post OR my Facebook page wins.

Leave your email address in the comments section to be considered in the drawing.

This contest doesn't require you to follow The Brooklyn Scribbler blog or Like my Facebook page (although I'd love it if you did!), but you must have read the book.

Now, questions from Sultana.

In Sultana (2011), the heroine Fatima is a Moorish princess wed to her paternal cousin Faraj, a move which precipitates a civil war between Fatima's family and their former allies.

1. What is the Moorish name of the city where Fatima grew up?2. Which of the following men is Fatima's father?

A. Muhammad I
B. Muhammad II
C. Muhammad III

3. What is the name of Fatima and Faraj's firstborn son?

Thanks for playing and good luck! Next chance to win will be on Friday, Dec. 27 , for readers of Sultana's Legacy. Merry Christmas!

Friday, December 13, 2013

Ready for the second giveaway? For readers of The Burning Candle, I'm offering a $25 Amazon gift card by email to the first lucky reader who can answer 3 random questions about the novel - the gift card can be used for anything you may purchase from Amazon.This giveaway is open internationally.
Here are the rules:

First person to provide the correct answers to all 3 questions in a comment on this blog post OR my Facebook page wins.

Leave your email address in the comments section to be considered in the drawing.

This contest doesn't require you to follow The Brooklyn Scribbler blog or Like my Facebook page (although I'd love it if you did!), but you must have read the book.

Now, questions from The Burning Candle.

In The Burning Candle(2012), the 12th-century heroine Isabel de Vermandois marries a man older than her father and does her duty, until forbidden love gives her the courage to choose her own destiny.1. What are the full names of Isabel's mother and father? 2. How many sons does Isabel have with her husband Robert de Beaumont?A. Two, separated by three yearsB. Three; twins followed by another boy C. Four; only three live because the villain stabbed the fourth son3.
In the novel, Isabel has one friend in England, Amieria - what is the name of
Amieria's famous father?

Thanks for playing and good luck! Next chance to win will be on Friday, Dec. 20 , for readers of Sultana. Happy holidays!

Thursday, December 12, 2013

For devout
Muslims of the medieval period and our times, the Qur’an informed about daily
rituals of cleanliness, associated with prayer rituals. “O ye who believe! When you intend to offer the prayer, wash your faces
and your hands up to the elbows, wipe your heads, and wash your feet to the
ankles.” Personal hygiene became such an important aspect of Moorish life
that there were at least twenty-one public baths within Granada during the
medieval period. The best preserved of these can still be seen today, from the
eleventh-century Zirid (Berber) dynasty. Called El Banuelo, visitors can find
it along the Carrera del Darro, a narrow street flanking the Darro River. Just
follow the route of the 31 bus from Granada Centro to Albaicin; entrance is
free from 10am to 2pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

El Banuelo has the
typical layout of a Moorish bathhouse. The low-hanging entrance (mind your
head) leads to four chambers; a changing room where visitors left their
clothes, the cool room for general washing and massages, the warm room for
cleansing and scrubbing, followed by the hot room, where bathers could soak.
Bath attendants would have provided towels. Women could have had their bodily
hair removed and their nails, hands and feet painted with henna, while men
enjoyed a shave. Bathing hours included specific times based on gender. Visitors
made gradual progress through each space, so the bath ritual might last hours.

In
Sultana and Sultana’s Legacy, Fatima would not have resorted to using this or
any other public bath, not even the one attached to the mosque her brother Muhammad
III had ordered constructed. Instead, Fatima would have accessed the bathhouse
at Alhambra. Sandwiched between the Court of Myrtle and the northeastern edge
of the Court of Lions built in the reign of Fatima’s great grandson, Muhammad
V, this space has been opened to the public starting December 2013 just for a month – click here for more details. Maximum capacity is 15 people. If you are lucky enough to have a visit to Alhambra during this time,
admission to the Palacios Nazaries gets you into the royal baths, called Banos
Arabes.

Fatima
would have known it as the hammam begun
in the time of her son, the fifth Nasrid sovereign Ismail I, a space also
worked on by his son, Yusuf I. One of the poems of Yusuf’s minister Ibn al-Jayyab
inscribed above the door welcomed Fatima and generations of her family:

“Enter in the name of God
into the finest house, a place of purity, a room to be respected: this is the bath
of the royal palace, on which great minds labored. Fire makes a pleasant heat here
and pure water flows….”

An earlier version of the bathhouse must have existed before these rulers came to power at
the beginning of the fourteenth century, but the current structure is all
visitors can see. Entry came from two, second-story access points, from a
vestibule just off the Court of Myrtles and a short hallway from the Court of
Lions. The upper level also held the living quarter of the bath superintendent.
The ceiling beams and panels show evidence of bright paint. There would have
been a lantern fitted into the center of the ceiling. Anyone who leaned over the wooden
balustrade would have seen a marble white fountain below on the first floor of the
room. Four slender columns offered support. Stairs led down to the first floor.

On
the lower floor immediately beyond the pillars were two recessed alcoves
situated across from each other. Two plaster-worked arches linked by a central
column enclosed these alcoves. Assuming the hammam of Alhambra followed the general
plan of most Moorish baths, this place might have allowed Fatima and her family
to undress and get their towels, relax here or enjoy a massage. There was also
a storeroom and a latrine behind the northernmost alcove. From the moment of
their arrival, would-be bathers wore wooden shoes to protect their feet from
the heat and spills in the bath.

Next
came the narrow cool room, known to Fatima as al-bayt al-barid, reached via a short hallway running to the east. A
small cold-water basin remains here on the eastern wall framed by a painted
horseshoe arch.

The
central room was al-bayt al-wastani
in Fatima’s time, a heated room with three vaulted spaces. Warmth rose from
beneath the tiles. The recessed channel in the middle of the floor allowed for
the run-off from bathers to drain away, while one marble step on either side supported
the columns in the room. Bathers would have soaped and washed here, with pails
or buckets of water thrown over them to rinse off.

Lastly,
they would have arrived at the hot room, al-bayt
al-sakhun. It had two marble tanks, one on the east and the other to the south,
where bathers could immerse themselves.

How
did the Moors of Alhambra maintain this bath? On the lower level, accessed
through the rooms the Catholic Monarchs added and an enclosed garden below, you
will find redbrick walls along a warren of tunnels. They provided storage space
for the wood required to heat the furnaces. These hallways also allowed those who worked behind the scenes to keep the baths heated and cleaned from disturbing the solitude of the bathers.

The
ceiling of each of the bathing rooms features skylights or madwas, which provided ventilation. Each had a green or white glaze
and red glass covered them, some shaped like eight pointed stars and others
like tears. In the chambers lit by the skylights, Fatima and her family would
have found luxury and comfort, but centuries of damage and neglect led
to the closing of the royal bath. Only restoration work has allowed the space
to open to the public again.

Friday, December 6, 2013

I've been looking for a way to thank some of the readers who've been kind enough to buy my work and share their opinions. This holiday season, every Friday through January 3, I'll offer one $25 Amazon gift card by email to one lucky reader who can successfully answer all 3 random questions about my novels - the gift card can be used for anything you may purchase from Amazon. This giveaway is open internationally.
Here are the rules:

First person to provide the correct answers to all 3 questions in a comment on this blog post OR my Facebook page wins.

Leave your email address in the comments section to be considered in the drawing.

This contest doesn't require you to follow The Brooklyn Scribbler blog or Like my Facebook page (although I'd love it if you did!), but you must have read the book.

So I'll kick things off with 3 questions from On Falcon's Wings.

In my 2010 debut novel, On Falcon's Wings, the heroine Avicia and the hero Edric of Newington are medieval lovers torn apart by events leading up the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

1. In which region of northern Europe did Avicia and Edric first met?

A. England
B. Flanders
C. Normandy

2. What was the full name of Avicia's only friend after her arrival in Normandy?

3. What type of trial did Avicia have to undertake when the Normans discovered her affair with Edric?

Thanks for playing and good luck! Next chance to win will be on Friday, Dec. 13 , for readers of The Burning Candle. Enjoy the holidays!

Friday, November 29, 2013

What would it be like to have certainty or even the smallest inkling that your sibling had murdered your beloved parent? It was the dilemma my heroine Fatima faced in 1302 when her father Muhammad II died suddenly. In Sultana's Legacy, Fatima seeks vengeance for her cruel loss, but in reality I have no idea how she reacted. The fact that her husband Faraj took the pragmatic approach and continued to enjoy good relations with his brother in-law doesn't tell me anything other than how he might have kept a level head so he could also hold on to the governorship of Malaga. With her murderous brother now in charge, the world around Fatima would have been rapidly altered.

"Psychotic" or "sociopath" are the terms that come to mind when I consider Muhammad III. Sometimes it's hard to believe he and Fatima were full-blooded siblings, but they shared several traits in their interests in learning and patronage of the arts. So what turned them in two different directions, allowing Fatima to become the devoted matriarch of the Nasrid Dynasty and making Muhammad III into a vicious killer?

The saying, "there's one in every bunch" is exemplified in Muhammad III. Of all the Nasrids, who could be quite cruel when they wanted, he stands out. One of my "favorite" stories of him is about how he treated the servants of his father, whom he had arrested, likely because they knew something about the role of the poisoned cake that had come from Muhammad III's house and led to the pain-filled death of Muhammad II. The warden took pity on the prisoners thrown into a dank hole at Alcazaba and threw down some bread to them. When Muhammad III found out, he had the jailor's head cut off and let the blood drip down on the condemned so "they could have something to drink." Doesn't get any crazier than that.

Of Muhammad III, the best that can be said of him is that he is responsible for Alhambra's mosque, which is now the St. Mary Church at Alhambra, and the bath attached to the mosque, as well as the area known as the Partal, an extension of his father's palace on the higher ground. The lantern of the mosque is in Charles V's palace. Like many of the members of his family who contributed to the grandeur of Alhambra, Muhammad III was an adherent of Islam. While he had access to the oratories in the Mexuar or the precursor of the Compares tower, the mosque allowed the denizens of the royal city a place where they could worship. The bath house fulfilled the ritual washing requirement.

The bath, as with many other areas of Alhambra, shows its age and cannot have accommodated many people at one time. The private bath of the royal family, entered through the Court of Myrtles or later, the Court of Lions makes it unlikely that Muhammad III, Fatima or any member of their households would have used the place. Still, the rulers of Granada never fully insulated themselves from the public. Fatima's great-grandson, Muhammad V, was known to ride through the streets at times unattended. His father Yusuf I was received with so much acclaim in Gaudix in 1352, the women of the town who would have normally veiled themselves, took off their veils to greet him. Unfortunately, the Nasrids often had more to fear from each other than any outsider, as Fatima must have discovered to her horror.

This is my last entry on the public face of Alhambra. Soon I'll have more on the private areas and post some of over 1,000 pictures taken on this latest trip within and outside Alhambra on my Facebook page.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

While
touring Alhambra, I met a nice couple from Greenwich and we fell to talking
about this amazing monument. The wife asked who built Alhambra. That’s not such
an easy question to answer, but I did explain how various rulers ordered
construction on certain parts, later adapted or altered by their descendants.
The Comares tower is one example. What we see today is the influence of two of
the major rulers from the 14th century; Yusuf I, my hero in Sultana:
Two Sisters, and his son with Butayna, Muhammad V.

There has always been a
bastion at this particular spot of Alhambra, from perhaps even before the rule
of Fatima’s grandfather, Muhammad I. Several scenes in the series take place in
this hall; the return of Muhammad I’s body to Granada and the ascendancy of
Muhammad II in Sultana; Fatima’s confrontation with her murderous,
full-blood brother Muhammad III after the sudden demise of their father in Sultana’s
Legacy; Yusuf I’s meeting with the rebel Marinid princes in Sultana:
Two Sisters. The Comares tower became a likely backdrop for several momentous
events in Alhambra and Granada’s history.

That the Comares tower
definitively served as the throne room of Fatima’s relations comes from a poem
inscribed within the central, north-facing alcove of the hall. The verses name
the ruler in whose name the tower was built as Yusuf I and as such, either his
chief minister Ali ibn al-Jayyab or that man’s successor, Ibn al-Khatib
composed the words. They refer to the nine alcoves in the room as a group of
constellations, with the central alcove as the most important because the
monarch sat there:

“…My lord Yusuf, sustained by God, clothed me in dignity with
robes of undeniable distinction, making me the throne of the kingdom (kursi
mulk), the grandeur of which is born up thanks to the Light, the Seat and the
Throne.”

Before entering the Comares tower at the north, there is a shaded
arcade of eight pillars beneath arches, mirrored at the south end of the Court
of Myrtles. Next is a hall referred to as Sala de Barca, for its boat-shaped
ceiling. Muhammad V ordered its construction as an extension of the Comares
hall, possibly dating to as late as 1367 because after that year, all further
expansion at Alhambra in his reign bears the regal name he adopted after the
Granadine recapture of Algeciras (al-Jazirah al-Khadra), al-Ghani
bi-Llah, which means ‘he is who is satisfied by God.’ Fire destroyed the
original ceiling in 1890.

I love the hidden spaces of Alhambra – actually, not really, since
the authenticity of my series would be better if I could see everything – and
the Comares hall obliges by having two doors, one leading up into the tower and
another for the ruler’s private oratory. The imagination can run wild in this
place, wondering about the intrigues that unfolded in the throne room.

Muhammad V finished the work his father Yusuf I started on the
Comares hall. Light streams into the room through the lattice in each alcove,
illuminating a 16th century terracotta floor. At its center are
ceramic tiles glazed in gold, blue and white. In the days of the Nasrid
sovereigns, no one crossed this space because the 99 names of God in Arabic
were inscribed here. I assume this significance is part of why the original
floor is missing.

Since the rooms to the south were destroyed by Charles V,
speculation also remains about what lay behind the façade. Was the space
reserved for foreign dignitaries during their visits to Alhambra? Did the
important ministers like Ali ibn al-Jayyab, Ibn al-Khatib or Muhammad’s
faithful boyhood tutor Ridwan have rooms there? In Sultana: Two Sisters,
I described the upper floors as being part of an extension of the harem,
placing Butayna and Maryam’s chambers in the south end of the Court of Myrtles.
I imagined them peering through the latticework at events unfolding outside the
throne room. The likely position of the harem seems too small to have
accommodated the rulers and their families over generations. Also, the modern
access at the south end from the Court of Myrtles to Muhammad’s crowning
achievement, the Court of Lions, did not exist during Nasrid rule. The Catholic
Monarchs linked those two areas.

Next, I’ll wrap up with the
last public space visitors can still see, the baths attached to what was once
the great mosque of Alhambra, built by Fatima’s brother Muhammad III. I had
hoped to also show pictures of the royal graveyard (rawda) where
some of the monarchs like Muhammad II, his grandson from Fatima, Ismail I and
Ismail’s son Yusuf I, were interred along with their illustrious matriarch,
Fatima, but it appears conservation efforts are underway. I was fortunate to
see some of the gravesites in an earlier visit. No bodies lie there. When the
Nasrids lost Granada forever in 1492, they took the bones of their ancestors
out of Alhambra. They may have reinterred them at Mondujar, where the last
Sultana, Moraima, was buried. The gravestone of Muhammad II is in the Alhambra
Museum in Charles V’s rotunda.

When I’m back in New York, I’ll share more about
Alhambra, the private world of the Nasrid bath, harem and the summer
palace.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

I haven’t found
any reference for the name the Moors once gave the open-air courtyard of the
Golden Chamber in Alhambra. The name derives from the 1499 gilded restoration
of the room. A different passageway existed in Fatima’s time, possibly
evidenced by an eastern-oriented doorway from the Mexuar. Many theorize that
ambassadors and other dignitaries waited in the chamber to meet with the rulers
of Granada. Of all the most common inscriptions incised along the walls of the
Golden Chamber, this one is most repeated: “Victory
only comes with God, the Powerful, the Wise,” a verse from the Qur’an.

Muhammad
V undertook some of the work evident in the hall between 1367
and 1369, to commemorate prominent victories over his enemies at cities like
Jaen (Jayyan), Baeza (Bastah) and most importantly, Algeciras
(al-Jazirah al-Khadra). In Moorish
times, three windows rather than a central, north-facing one overlooked the
city. Medieval visitors would have enjoyed an incredible view of the
neighborhood of Albaicin (Al-Bayazin). To
the south, the façade indicates two doors, but only one has ever been open to
the public. On either side of the doors, a blessing is incised along with
carved shells and pine cones. There are latticework windows above, which
indicate an upper floor removed by the Catholic Monarchs. Through the Golden
Chamber’s open door at the south, visitors enter the façade of the Comares
palace via a right-angled corridor with arched alcoves.

I don’t why this
section is called the Comares; there was a fortress-city at Qumarich held first by the Ashqilula
clan, one- time allies of the Nasrids until Fatima married her paternal cousin
Faraj in 1266. Fatima’s father regained Qumarich
when he exiled his Ashqilula enemies, but I can’t think of any significance
the territory held afterward. The name could also derive from Qamriyya for the stained glass windows,
which once existed in the Comares tower, or from Qum`arsh, an Arabic term for “room or seat of the throne.” Whatever
the source, Comares is one of the most spectacular spaces in an already
stunning place.

At its center is the Courtyard of the Myrtles. At the north the
Comares tower remains, but to the south the 1537 Palace of Charles V obliterated
any rooms behind the façade. The southern portico has a central door forever
closed and two more at the adjoining east and west walls, all topped by a row
of eight windows covered by lattice and columns joined by arches above. There is a pool bordered by two series of myrtle bushes. The courtyard likely
existed in Fatima’s time, but her grandson Yusuf I, father of Muhammad V, made
changes that were not completed before Yusuf’s untimely death in 1354. Muhammad
V finished his father’s restoration by 1370. On its eastern side, latticed
windows front the courtyard and one door leads to the bathhouse built by
Fatima’s son Ismail I. The western wall is its mirror image; through the
southernmost door fitted along it, visitors can glimpse the path to the Mexuar
that serves as the modern entrance. There are arched alcoves along both walls,
some of which give access to other restricted parts of the palace. A poem
composed by Ibn Zamrak, one of the ministers of Muhammad V described the
courtyard:

“I am like a maidservant whose betrothed
desire each other and to whom a crown and diadem have already been given;
before me is the mirror, a pool upon whose surface my beauty takes shape.”

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Hola from cold but beautiful Granada and its famous Alhambra.
I’m taking a much-needed break and enjoying my favorite place, which allows for
the continuation of my post from last month about the complex as the characters
of the Sultana series would have known
it. Evidence of restoration is everywhere in Alhambra today, all geared towards
the preservation of this beautiful monument. As a result, crowd control has
also become stricter, but even this couldn’t lessen my enjoyment. It is a
little sad to see some of the further deterioration that Alhambra has
undergone since I first visited exactly 12 years ago this week, but the site remains
inspirational. This morning as I walked down and up the Sabika hill again, two
things struck me. One, medieval Moors must have been in incredible shape,
because that hill is a killer, or they had very sure-footed horses. Two, the
extensive view of the Granadine plain afforded a natural vantage point for the
location of Alhambra and ensured its defense for almost seven centuries.

I spent more
time than I ever have in the past within the Mexuar (mashwar in the series) begun by Fatima’s father, Muhammad II in Sultana. Most of the tours had moved
through and made it easier to take pictures. Warning: if you’re planning a
visit to Alhambra any time soon, the morning tours make it almost impossible to
get a shot anywhere without crowds moving through the space.Try after 12pm. The Mexuar of today reflects
the period of Fatima’s great-grandson Muhammad V, the hero of my next, Sultana: The Bride Price. Fatima did not
live long enough to witness his ascendancy. During his extensive reign,
Muhammad V had the opportunity to shape what we see. From the entryway with its
1362 frieze styled in Nashki cursive
script to the poetry along the walls speaks of the majesty of one of the most
illustrious sultans of the Nasrid Dynasty. I can’t go into why Muhammad V
altered so much of his ancestors’ palace complex without ruining the plot of The Bride Price, but let’s just say he
had great reason to celebrate and revitalize the site.

It
is impossible to know how much alteration Muhammad V made to the chamber as it might
have stood during the reign of his great-great grandfather Muhammad II. The differences
between Moorish and Christian influences within the space can be found in the
addition of the emblems of the Catholic Monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand to
start. In Moorish times, the Mexuar’s floor was at a different height and there
were two windows, with a central doorway and another facing west towards the
citadel at Alcazaba, not four barred windows. At first glance it would appear
as if the upper walls are stark, but closer observance reveals traces of blue
and green pigments. Color is everywhere in Alhambra, especially where you least
expect it. Unfortunately most of the luxurious tile work and the lantern
lighting the cupola between the four pillars of the chamber are gone. In this
room I imagined a scene of Sultana might have taken place, where Fatima’s
husband Faraj received the governorship of Malaga (Malaka). A
poem once adorned the walls of the Mexuar at the direction of Muhammad’s
minister Ibn al-Khatib:

“…Muhammad, son of Abu l-Hajjaj (Sultan
Yusuf I) built me, and thus is worthy of the truest and most genuine praise.

It is he whose skill – blessed be he –
unites with constancy two opponents: generosity and courage...."

From the Mexuar
and its oratory, also redesigned by Muhammad V between 1363 and 1367, an open
arch leads to an open space now called the Golden Chamber with its adjoining
portico facing north of Alhambra. More on that tomorrow, as uploads of the pictures are painfully slow here.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Orphaned as a child, Irisi became a mercenary to survive. Captured by the Egyptian army and made the spoils of war, she finds herself forced to fight in the ring for entertainment. In a desperate attempt to regain her freedom she throws herself on the mercy of the Gods, only to discover that her fate is written in prophecy...

Historical fiction | Fiction

Sultana: A Novel of Moorish Spain by Lisa J. Yarde

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Average Rating: 4.0 out of 67 reviews.

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Book #1 of the Sultana series. In thirteenth-century Moorish Spain, the realm of Granada is in crisis. The union of Fatima, granddaughter of the Sultan of Granada, with the Sultan’s nephew Faraj has fractured the nation. A bitter civil war escalates and endangers both Fatima and Faraj’s lives. All her life, Fatima has sheltered in lavish palaces where danger has never intruded, until now. A precocious child and the unwitting pawn of her family, she learns how her marriage may determine her future and the fate of Granada. Her husband Faraj has his own qualms about their union. At a young age, he witnessed the deaths of his parents, and discovered how affluence and power gives little protection against indomitable enemies.

Romance-historical | Fiction

My Highland Love by Tarah Scott

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How does a woman explain to her betrothed that she murdered her first husband? Shipwrecked in the Scottish Highlands, American heiress Elise Kingston quietly plans revenge for the deaths of her daughter and the brother who sacrificed his life to save her. When Marcus MacGregor, Marquess of Ashlund, returns to his Highland home to discover a stunning American woman has been taken in by his clan, his attraction is instant and he resolves to make her his -- no matter what secret she's keeping. Elise is shocked by her need for Marcus and, too late, discovers that her feelings make him a target of her enemy -- a man powerful enough to destroy even a Scottish nobleman. This is a second edition. First Edition published by Silver Publishing.

Romance-historical | Fiction

The Virtuous Ward by Karla Darcy

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Average Rating: 4.5 out of 43 reviews.

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If you love Downton Abbey and Jane Austen you’ll love The Virtuous Ward! This is book #5 in the Sweet Deception Regency series that brings you the adventures of the gentlemen of the ton who are members of Sweet’s Racing Club and the women they love. Lord Maxwell Kampford has kept his ward in seclusion but now must sponsor her in society in order to marry her off. Unsophisticated and trusting, Amity is set up by Max's jealous fiancée to fail. Max is confounded by the loyalties of the girl who seems to champion every orphaned and abused animal and turns his bachelor household upside down. Will he discover love or let this charmer get away?